Republicans Lead Guam Governor’s Race in Final Unofficial Count as Democrat Leads for House Delegate
Guam produced the first results of Election Day, and Republicans Tony Ada and E.J. Calvo lead the island territory’s governor’s race in the final unofficial count.
The Guam Election Commission’s results, released at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday local time, showed Ada and Calvo with 15,945 votes, or 51.45%, the Guam Daily Post reported.
Democrats Therese Terlaje and Sabina Perez, both senators in the Guam Legislature, had 14,925 votes, or 48.15%. The 1,020-vote gap came with all 59 precincts counted.
Terlaje told supporters she called Ada, the Legislature’s vice speaker, to concede on behalf of the ticket, according to the Pacific Daily News. Calvo opened a bottle of champagne at the Republican camp.
The results remain unofficial until the commission certifies them. The commission plans to meet Nov. 19 to count off-island ballots.
The Democratic team had led early. With 21 of 59 precincts counted just before midnight, Terlaje and Perez were ahead by 80 votes, 5,243 to 5,163, the Post reported. Ada and Calvo moved ahead as more precincts came in.
Delegate Seat
The news was worse for Republicans in the race for Guam’s nonvoting seat in the U.S. House. Democrat Alicia Limtiaco, a former attorney general of Guam, led Republican Del. James Moylan.
Limtiaco had 15,645 votes, or 51%, to Moylan’s 14,983, or 48.84%, a 662-vote margin in the final unofficial count. Limtiaco held the lead all night, though it narrowed as precincts reported.
Guam’s delegate can serve on committees and speak on the House floor but cannot vote on final passage of legislation, so the seat does not count toward the 218 needed for a majority.
In the attorney general’s race, challenger Phillip Tydingco had 11,583 votes, or 38.29%, ahead of incumbent Douglas Moylan’s 10,008, or 33.08%, in a five-way field.
Republicans also held eight of the top 15 spots in the race for the Legislature, putting them in position for a narrow majority in the incoming 39th Guam Legislature, the Post reported.
The 15th and 16th-place finishers, Republican Shawn Gumataotao and Republican William Castro, were separated by 147 votes.
The commission said 31,414 ballots were cast, or 53.11% of Guam’s 59,146 registered voters.
Democratic Sen. Chris Barnett was the top vote-getter among the 30 legislative candidates, with 19,783 votes. Fellow Democrat Amanda Shelton was second, and Republican Sabrina Salas Matanane placed third.
A University of Guam student exit poll of about 350 voters, taken mostly in the morning, had shown Terlaje and Perez ahead 52% to 48%, the Pacific Daily News reported. Its organizers called the results inconclusive, with a margin of error of about 6 points.
Guam is 15 hours ahead of Eastern time, so its polls closed before most mainland polling places opened Tuesday morning. No network decision desk has projected the territorial races.
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